Unforsaken
by PubLicEneMyNumBah1
Summary: A one-shot song-fic with the TAFKAL80ETC as characters. Rock n' Roll!


A one-shot fanfic with members of the **TAFKAL80ETC** as characters. I might try to write a multi-chapter story about them someday. I do not own any of these characters and they all belong to Blizzard Entertainment.

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><p><strong>Unforsaken<strong>

"Storm, Earth, and Fire! Heed my call!"

I opened my eyes as the same song that disturbed my wonderful slumber a few days ago woke me up once more. It was a strange cacophony comprised of a loud hoarse voice, strummed metallic strings, and thundering percussion reverberating in an ear-splitting volume. I found it quite pleasing though... perhaps strangely enough since I would expect most people to dismiss it as nothing but mere noise. They are like the choir of the Holy Light singing or a legion of demons screaming; simply, it is mind-blowing! It's music, no doubt. And only if I were still alive, my heart would have pounded in synchronicity with it.

My state of undeath came to my recollection as the previous thought sunk in. I'm not alive but I'm not dead either, technically and I'm stuck at the midpoint. I stare blankly on the piece of wood covering my casket, troubled with my unnatural state. I can't tell how much time passed since I interred myself, as I played dead and wished for the haunting voices and sounds of regrets long past to fade out across the expanse of time. But Azeroth no longer sounds like the world I left behind. It changed... and somehow better than ever.

"I am the son of the wind and rain,  
>Thunder beckons and I heed the call."<p>

The disquietude continued and I grew more and more jealous as the living rejoiced. There isn't much left for those who have once died and lived once more to do. It is less about being alive and more of being dead... dead while being aware of it. I curse the day when I was freed from the Lich King's domination. Prior to it I was only an automaton with the basic imperative to fight, consume, terrorize, and lay waste to the world. The amnesiac state proved useful in aiding oneself into committing atrocities with which the conscience of a benign living one wouldn't bare. I was a marionette of a greater power, a demonic entity who posed himself as a god but having my connection to him severed made my existence pointless ironically enough. I am Forsaken... and that was what we called ourselves. I and a thousand others like myself banded together but I can still no longer feel that I belong. They abandoned all hope, dedicating their undeath to a seemingly eternal quest for vengeance, while I remained optimistic that somehow I can do good things for myself and others.

It was then when I decided to keep distant from my own kind and start my own trek, to understand and find a new purpose. Surely, I thought, that the Holy Light is still guiding me even though I can no longer feel it. A fervent worshipper of the Light in life, undeath alone cannot make me succumb to the shadows. I am not without doubt though and soon I started to see things in a different way, all while still trying to painfully hold on to my beliefs. A succession of events that effectively crushed my willpower ensued. I was discriminated against and those I once called as friends and family became strangers. I can't take my old life back, I will not be accepted; no, not anymore. The life I once knew as a mortal... is gone. I did the next logical thing to do; I dug my own grave and buried myself in it. This is where the dead belong!

"STORM  
>Black clouds fill the sky.<br>EARTH  
>I hear my battle cry.<br>FIRE  
>Thunder we'll bring forth..."<p>

"Death... From the power of the Horde..." I whispered silently as the addicting rhythm made me sing along with them. A feeling of strange joy surged into me, something I never felt since after becoming a walking corpse. I have loved music since I was alive but none has ever made feel so energetic before, the lively melody can almost make me rise from my grave.

Rise from my grave...

No, No, NO! That's just silly. Besides, what comes next?

"I feel the fire burning in my veins,  
>Lightning strikes at my command."<p>

I can feel it, alright. I can feel it. A powerful desire. The music, the beautiful music... it's calling to me, urging me to come out. But I'm afraid that the world would still reject me.

"Yeeeeaaaahhhh!"

Ok, that's it! The instrumental solo is too amazing to resist! I must meet these bards playing this song!

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

My fists made sounds as I punched into my casket's cover. I must get out!

"Creeeeeck..."

A small hole cracked open and I proceeded to tear it up. I raised my hands high up in the air, forming a horned shape with it as I did so. I don't know why but I just picked it up from an old acolyte friend of mine, back in our Scourge days when unsummoning those undead structures through a portal if I remember correctly. An odd gesture but I was too euphoric to care. It's a good thing that I haven't dug too deep, my grave just being as shallow as my previous perspective. Dusting off the dirt that clung to my dress, cape, and fanhawk hair, I walked away from my grave as I abandoned my negativity.

I followed the direction where the sound is coming from, thanks to the heightened senses that I am cursed with as an undead. It was not too far and after a few minutes, I soon found a dwelling, probably a peasant's, an old farmhouse. The lights on the ground floor seem to be out but the attic is all lit up. That must be where it's coming from and I have confirmed it as I saw the silhouette of a humanoid creature holding a guitar. I carefully climbed and positioned myself near the glass window while careful of not being caught. I then saw the rest of them, a four man ensemble of musicians giving it all in their practice. A blood elf and a troll playing guitars, a tauren playing drums and cymbals, and an orc on a microphone.

I braced myself as they started an encore of the song. I fixed my eye on them and witnessed their vivacity. They were all bobbing their heads back and forth to the music they're playing. The tauren was tossing the hammers he is dual wielding to pound on his drums up in the air from time to time. The troll and blood elf were jumping and doing all sorts of things like making their guitar spin and sliding. While the orc, lifts his microphone and its stand above his head when he hits some high notes or screaming at the top of his lungs. All of this while I, their only audience, was also banging my head with teeth clenched and eyes closed and still raising up my horned hands.

But as the song drew near to the guitar solo, the troll guitarist suddenly stopped, "Hey, you there!"

Oh, screw it! I've been caught! The rest of the band stopped as they saw me. There was no point hiding and I guess I just have to introduce myself and explain. I opened the window and came inside uninvited.

"Err... hello there!"

The four people in front of me were still dumbfounded by my presence. They were staring at me with curious eyes but I could tell that it is without prejudice against my undying state.. "I'm Bergrisst" I said shyly as I reached out my hand.

It still took a few moments before one of them reached out but finally the orc broke his silence. "I'm Samuro. Friends call me Sammy."

"Hi, Sammy... ah, Samuro! Just can't help listening to you guys. I mean, your music, it's totally wicked! What genre is it?"

They started passing looks at each other but the troll answered. "It be called Rock n' Roll, mon."

"Awesome!" I said as I horned my hands again, nodding slowly... to their amusement.

"That gesture, what is that? Looks funny but cool in some way." The orc asked.

"Well, I don't know too. It was a Scourge thing but it lost its meaning for me."

They started imitating it much to my flattery.

"So you like rocking, too?". The blood elf guy asked as he left his guitar in a table to shake my hand and introduce himself, too. "I'm Sig Nicious. Nice to meet you."

"Mine name's Mai'Kyl. We be kind to strangers so don't be surprised, mon."

"Besides, you are our first fan." The orc added and the rest of them chuckled.

I feel glad that they have accepted me very easily. It might have helped that the Forsaken have allied themselves with the Horde but their hospitality is still very warm compared to the usual.

"I'm Thunder-Skins. Chief Thunder-Skins." He said as he introduced himself last without leaving his drums and with a bellowing voice.

I started looking at some of the instruments mounted on their wall and a strangely designed guitar caught my attention. It has a headstock shaped like a skull and neck that looks like a vertebral column. In place of the bridge is also an embossed skull and its body is shaped like an axe, even its blades were sharpened. The glistening polished gunmetal color made it even more beautiful. "Can I borrow this one?" I asked permission as the urge to play the instrument seeped into me.

"Sure, just be careful not to drop it on your feet." Sammy told me as he dismounted it from the wall and gave it to me. The cold object on my hand feels light and I started to pluck the strings into a simple symphony that I played when I was still alive. "Do you know how to play it?"

"Yes," I answered as I inspected the instrument in my hand and admired its design. "But not like the way you guys play it. I was with travelling minstrels that played folk music. You guys... rock."

"We need someone to play lead guitars. You're in if you're good with it." Sig said to me as he picked up his own guitar.

"Then play with us. Just for you to get a hang of it." Sammy tapped my shoulder and I couldn't be happier that moment. The idea that I will be ale to play with these exceptionally talented individuals made me very enthusiastic. I stood beside Samuro and tried to remember the song in my head. My acute hearing made me know the notes accurately. All I had to do was to try to keep with their powerful harmony. The song started and I was playing the first few tabs with ease. Despite not having played the song before, it seem to be all coming naturally and playing from my memory. This is what I like and this is what I want to do with my un-life.

From that moment on, the band became my friends and family. We came to be known as the Elite Tauren Chieftains. Whether if I'm more dead than I am alive or otherwise only became a matter of choice, on how I should perceive things. I chose to live this new life like I never lived before. This is my tale of how I found place in music in the world of Azeroth. I am Bergrisst and I have been... unforsaken.

"The power of the Horde!"


End file.
